Where the Frenchman and Persephone come from in the Matrix is uncertain. They act as the couple that have everything except love. Of course the Frenchman seeks to have everything he wants - power being the central figure. Persephone seems to have a level of seniority in his relations and programs that keeps him in check.
Monica Bellucci .... Persephone
Born: Italy
Ref. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000899/
Lambert Wilson .... Merovingian (the Frenchman)
Born: France
Ref. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0933727/
I was just watching reloaded and there is something interesting the Frenchman says to Neo, after Neo exclaims that he will "Handle it" (getting the keymaker). The Frenchman explains that he has seen the Neo predecessors before and he survived them all. It makes you wonder why the Frenchman always has a key role - is it because he has a certain access that not even the Machines can get rid of? If so why haven't the machines sent agents to deal with him or is it that he is the necessary 'Devil'?
Some things just come to mind... could it be that the Frenchman (Merovingian) was once a 'One' but decided to stay in his own little world when he saw what he could do? Could it be that Persephone was a former 'Trinity'? Notice the similarities.
Offtopic but, It might be actually good to have a Matrix movie that shows you what the first five 'Ones' did or did not do for that matter. this might better explain where the Frenchman and Persephone come into all of this? |
Moved from other Matrix discussion:
My thoughts on the Frenchman, since you brought it up here, is that he was once similar to Neo; a program that was given insight into the world of the Matrix. However, his role is to indulge the humans in believing the matrix world is best for them, while Neo's role is to show that freedom from the Matrix is better. They are opposites but one in the same. I do think however, that the Architect took away a lot of the Frenchman's powers, but gave him authority to build other programs like the twins, and the vampires to do his dirty work for him. I am not quite sure though what forced the Architect to do such a thing. Again, all theoretical, but very stimulating to the mind, isnt it?
I am not sure about Persephone, she still baffles me in her role in everything. Like you said she is probably a balance to the Frenchman to keep him in check. I do believe the Frenchman is a necessary evil and this is why he has been protected from the Agents and such.
What distinguishes the Frenchman is that he seems to fear nothing, but at the same time you notice that he chooses not to fight Neo, although he did watch and was impressed by his skill (probably that is what scared him off). Yet, why would the Architect allow him to create glitches (vampires and the like) when this would only imperfect the system? A theory could be that the Machines simply 'became bored'? Surely if they developed to have a will to live then they must have been trying to realize other human qualities - qualities Persephone says she once remembered.
One theory that exists about Persephone is that she was a former Trinity so to speak just as the Frenchman was a former Neo. Maybe the Frenchman was one of the first Neo's or the only Neo to survive with 'a purpose'?
You really think the vampires and ghosts were glitches? They were meant to be that way because humans believe in them. It all goes back to what would it take for humans to accept the construct. We tell ghost stories and vampire stories, so what better form for innate programs to take on than those? Sometimes to perfect something, we have to allow for imperfections that are considered appropriate or unacceptable.
No, I would not say they are glitches per sey, but that is how you would refer to a program that is 'buggy' or as the Oracle puts it:
The Oracle: Of course you have. Every time you've heard someone say they saw a ghost, or an angel. Every story you've ever heard about vampires, werewolves, or aliens is the system assimilating some program that's doing something they're not supposed to be doing.
Neo: Programs hacking programs. Why?
The Oracle: They have their reasons, but usually a program chooses exile when it faces deletion.
The Frenchman has a purpose alright; his purpose is to prevent Neo from liberating the humans so that he can have fun with them and control them in his little underworld. I believe he was a Neo at one time, and when presented with the choice of the left door or the right he probably said "Neither, let me stay in the matrix and play with the pathetic humans". And so it was done. This could also explain Persephone's frustration with the Frenchman, because she has never experienced the emotion called love that Neo floods upon Trinity. It is very acceptable to think the Frenchman and Persephone were the original Neo and Trinity.